Over 23,900 natural species are currently threatened with extinction¹, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, including 41% of amphibians, 25% of mammals, and 13% of birds. Organisations worldwide are working tirelessly to reverse the decline in global biodiversity, though climate change and human impact continue to negatively affect vulnerable species. Conservation efforts can only be successful if they are built on an understanding of what has historically made, and continues to make, certain species more extinction prone than others.

This article collection below, written by invited experts, looks at ecology and extinction risk-from the ancient DNA biomarkers that indicate environmental activity during historical extinctions, to modern day research in biodiversity loss. The collection assesses the human impact on a variety of species through time, adaptive genetic reactions to environmental change, and the efforts to prevent the extinction of those most vulnerable.

Articles in this Collection

Extinction Vulnerability and Selectivity: Combining Ecological and Paleontological Views

Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics

Pleistocene Overkill and North American Mammalian Extinctions

Annual Review of Anthropology

Biomarker Records Associated with Mass Extinction Events

Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences